


Mother's Day

by onihunter305



Series: Malec/Madzie [7]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Embracing Family Differences, Family Feels, Feels, Fluff, M/M, Malec, Mother's Day, loveislove
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 01:51:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10934514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onihunter305/pseuds/onihunter305
Summary: Madzie hadn’t heard of this mundane holiday, but she wanted to celebrate it in her own way.





	Mother's Day

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this one is late when one takes into consideration the holiday has already passed. This is something that was on my heart and it just took me a little while to put it all down into words to share with everyone.
> 
> Two things:
> 
> 1\. This story references two characters that kind of belong to this series, Irene and Matt. They were introduced in the last story but it is not essential for you to have read that one to understand this one at all.
> 
> 2\. This story is kind of important to me because I feel as though certain holidays, such as Mother's Day or Father's Day, can be extremely isolating for children who come from alternative families. As an educator I encounter all types of families and it is not uncommon for children to feel like something is wrong with them because of their family situation. So that is where this story comes from.
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys!

Madzie was currently enjoying her day out with Uncle Jace at the park. She had convinced him to take her out at exactly 1:30pm. The timing was very important because she knew that 1:30pm was was exactly when Matt’s mommy took him to the park and she wanted to play with her friend. Ever since they had met in the park months ago, Madzie always tried to go to the park when Matt was there. He was teaching her how to do the whole monkey bars!

It wasn’t that she didn’t like playing with her Uncle Jace, he was fun and always was willing to play dolls with her, but there was only so much to do inside the walls of the loft. So when she had put on her puppy-dog eyes, just like Aunt Izzy showed her, she quickly had him willing to take her out.

“Alright Madzie, the only rule here at the park with me is that I need to be able to see you all the time, okay?” Jace asked, slightly nervous to have her out of the loft all by himself. 

He had never actually watched her all alone either, normally he either had Clary or Alec with him. But it has been a bit of an all hands on deck situation back at the Institute, the only reason Jace was free was because he had been out for almost 24 hours patrolling and required some time off. He was originally supposed to use it to rest up, but Alec had begged him to keep an eye on Madzie for him because both him and Magnus’ presence was required at the Institute. And Jace could never say no to spending time with his little niece. 

“Okay Uncle Jace, I’m going to go play with Matt,” Madzie said, pointing out a little boy who was waving towards them from the playground.

“Does your daddy know you’re playing… with boys on the playground?” Jace asked, eyeing the little smiling body warily. He had doubts that Alec would allow his daughter to play with boys on the playground, after all, Jace had met a fair share of girls on the playground when he had first come to the New York Institute, he knew what could happen on the playground. 

“Of course silly,” Madzie said, and without another word, she ran off to join Matt. 

Jace watched intently as she met up with the smaller boy and the two of them ran off to try to use the monkey bars. He sat himself on a bench and rested his elbows on his knees, he was tired, patrolling for as long as he had took a toll on him but Alec had needed him for this and there was no way he was going to let his brother down by saying no. He probably would have been better off staying in the loft with her, under the protection of Magnus’ wards, but she had been so insistent that they go out specifically that afternoon. Jace knew her life hadn’t been easy prior to coming to live with Magnus and Alec and he, like everyone else who cared deeply about the little girl, wanted to always see a smile on her face. So he couldn’t say no. That also meant he was going to watch her like a hawk to make sure nothing bad happened to her.

~*~

Madzie giggled as Matt made it across the monkey bars again, dropping down with a smirk. 

“I did it again!” He exclaimed excitedly. 

“One day I am going to be able to do it too!” Madzie said, gearing herself up for another try. She had been able to make it halfway before dropping down in all of her previous attempts, this time she hoped she would be able to make it three-quarters of the way.

“You totally will! You should ask your dad’s to bring you more often, my mom and I are here almost every weekend. And there are lots of other kids that come on the weekends too,” Matt said, helping her up to the platform where she would have to jump from to grab the first bar. 

“My daddy and papa both work a lot on the weekends most of the time so I don’t know. Maybe on Sunday,” she said, hoping papa would be able to take her. She knew her daddy was going to be very busy for a while, he had explained it that morning at breakfast.

“Well proba’ly not lots of kids will come on Sunday, cuz it’s Mother’s Day and all,” Matt said nonchalantly. 

“Mother’s Day?” Madzie asked, confused. Having been bought up in seclusion by a warlock her whole life, she knew nothing of mundane holidays. 

“Oh yeah, you have a papa and a daddy, so maybe you won’t cel-brate Mother’s Day,” Matt said, tapping his finger to his cheek as he spoke. “Cuz it’s a day for mommies.”

“What does that mean?” Madzie asked, genuinely confused. She hadn’t heard anything about it when she went with papa to the market the other day, or when Aunt Izzy took her clothes shopping last week. She also didn’t understand why there would be a day dedicated to moms only, what about her dad and papa? 

“It’s a day for moms. To tell them how much we love them and stuff,” Matt explained.

“I don’t have a mommy, so I can’t celebrate?” She asked, feeling her heart clench slightly. She loved her daddy and her papa but it upset her that she wasn’t going to be able to celebrate this holiday with them. 

“I don’t know…maybe. We can ask my mommy! She’ll know!” Matt exclaimed, grabbing Madzie’s hand and pulling her towards the bench where his mom sat reading. “Mommy!”

“Matty dear, don’t shout. And hello Madzie, how are you?” Irene asked, putting her book down. 

“Good,” she replied politely, just like her daddy and papa taught her. 

“Mommy, Madzie wants to know if she can cel-brate mother’s day, even though she has a papa and a daddy ‘stead,” Matt asked, biting his bottom lip as he hoped his mom would have answer for his friend.

“Oh dear,” Irene said, looking at Madzie with sad eyes. She didn’t want to overstep her place by speaking on this subject if this was something her parents wanted to discuss with her, but she also didn’t want Madzie thinking something was wrong with her because of the lack of mother in her life. “Madzie, sweetie, is your daddy or papa here with you today?” She asked, knowing the little girl had a plethora of family members who would take her to the park.

“No, my Uncle Jace took me today,” she said, wondering why that mattered.

Irene’s eyes scanned the park, looking for who ‘Uncle Jace’ might be because in all the times she had seen Madzie at the park, the little girl had never mentioned an Uncle Jace. She met eyes with a man who was staring intently at every move she and her son made. After having met most of Madzie’s family and extended family she assumed that was the man, no matter who was with the little girl, they always had eyes on her as though they were secret service members and she was theirs to protect. She smiled at him and waved, hoping he would understand and come over.

Jace, from where he sat on his bench, was shocked when it looked like the woman talking with Madzie was calling him over. He quickly shot to his feet and jogged over, hoping Madzie wasn’t hurt or in any trouble. 

“Uncle Jace, this is Irene, she’s Matt’s mommy,” Madzie introduced as he approached. Irene stood up and shook Jace’s wary hand. He hadn’t had a lot of interactions with mundanes and hoped he didn’t say anything that sounded stupid, Alec and Magnus had worked hard to inundate Madzie into both worlds and he didn’t want to mess that up.

“Hello Jace, Madzie here was just wondering about Mother’s Day and whether or not she would be celebrating it, would you happen to know?” She asked, looking at him with hopeful eyes. 

Jace’s mind went blank as he did his best to prevent the inner panic he was feeling from rising to the surface. He had no idea what she was talking about; he could guess, using context clues, that this was some kind of mundane holiday that celebrated mothers. He doubted that Alec or Magnus were expecting Madzie to celebrate that with them.

“I…don’t know?” He said, his shoulder’s shrugging with uncertainty. 

“I see, perhaps Madzie has some important women in her life that she might like to celebrate, maybe even her Aunt Izzy?” Irene probed.

“Can I do that? Can I celebrate Aunt Izzy and Aunt Clary for Mother’s Day?” Madzie asked Jace, excited. 

“I…um…guess so?” Jace agreed, again unsure on whether or not he was doing the right thing. He had a feeling that he was digging himself into a project he wasn’t going to enjoy taking on.

“I don’t have to celebrate all women right? Because daddy’s mommy is mean and nasty and I don’t like her!” Madzie exclaimed, looking between Jace and Irene for her answer.

“Madzie dear, I don’t think your father’s would appreciate you talking about her like that,” Irene automatically went to correct her. 

“No, she’s a bad lady,” Madzie saids sticking to her guns.

Irene looked hopelessly at Jace, wondering if he was going to scold Madzie or defend what was probably his mother but she was met with an unreadable expression.

“I think, seeing as how this holiday is to celebrate people who are mothers or mothers-esque, that celebrating Maryse would be far from appropriate. Izzy and Clary, however, would probably really appreciate it,” Jace said, agreeing with Madzie’s strong negative opinion or Maryse. He hated how she had treated his Parabatai since he had come out and created his wonderful family and he didn’t want anyone to force Madzie to celebrate that woman.

“Okay then,” Irene said, clearly catching on that there was some family issues between Madzie’s family and her grandmother. “So Madzie, normally Mother’s Day is celebrated with cards, or flowers, or small hand-made gifts,” she continued to explain, seeing as how both Madzie and her uncle seemed very unaware of the holiday traditions. 

Madzie nodded and bit her lip, she knew her daddy and papa were teaching her letters and words, but she hadn’t learned them all yet. Maybe she could get them to help her, or she could get Uncle Jace to help her 

“I’m sure whatever you do, your Aunt Izzy will love it, and your Aunt Clary too,” Irene reassured her. “Now, I’m sure you can work on that later, Matt and I are only going to be at the park for a little while longer if you two want to play some more,” she said with a smile.

“Okay! Let’s go Matt!” Madzie exclaimed, grabbing the small boy’s hand and rushing back to the monkey bars. Her worries about Mother’s Day and what to do for it were pushed back to the recesses of her mind for now.

Once they were out of ear shot, Irene felt the need to apologize to the man standing next to her. She felt as though she may have overstepped in her interactions with Madzie, but the man seemed so tired and lost that she didn’t know what else to do.

“I do apologize if I overstepped,” she started, “I’ve grown fond of Madzie through our interactions here at the park.”

“It’s okay, she has that kind of effect on people,” Jace said, taking a seat next to Irene once she sat back down. He couldn’t deny how tired he felt and was eternity grateful that he would be able to bring Madzie home once Matt and his mother left.

“If Alec or Magnus are offended by the fact that I explained Mother’s Day to her please pass along my apologies as well,” she continued.

“I doubt they will be, and I guess I’m grateful that you were around to explain it to her as I wouldn’t have known how to, I doubt Alec would have known how to either,” Jace said with a smile, imagining his brother trying to explain a mundane holiday he knew nothing about.

“Both he and Magnus are truly incredible father’s to Madzie. She is such a happy child in general, but she just lights up when she is here with them,” Irene commented, “Not that she isn’t happy when she comes with your sister Izzy or her friend Clary or Simon,” Irene continued.

“Yeah, Alec is a great father, him and Magnus love her so much,” Jace agreed, smiling at the thought of the amazing family Alec now had. “She has a lot of people who love her,” he said absentmindedly. 

“Yes, she does,” Irene said before the two of them fell into a comfortable silence on the bench. They continued to sit there, watching over the children, until it was time for them to both go home.

~*~

As soon as they got back to Magnus’ loft, Madzie ran to her room to get her coloring paper and crayons. 

“I’m going to make Aunt Izzy and Aunt Clary a card for Sunday! But I need your help Uncle Jace!” Madzie exclaimed, spreading everything out on the coffee table and dropping to her knees next to it.

“Okay, how can I help?” He asked, coming to sit on the floor next to her.

“I need help with the words… but I want to be the one to write it. Daddy and papa have been teaching me….but I can’t do it by myself yet,” Madzie exclaimed.

“Sounds easy enough. How about you tell me what you want to say in the card and I write it lightly in pencil, then you can go over it with whatever color you want. When you are done, you can decorate the cards however you want,” he offered. 

“Awesome!” Madzie said with a smile as she handed over some paper for Jace to fold like a card. He picked up a pencil and prepared himself to write.

Madzie smiled and began.

~*~

When Alec and Magnus portalled home that night they were both exhausted, physically and mentally. All they wanted to do was kiss their daughter goodnight, take a long hot shower, and fall asleep curled up around each other.

When they looked around the left for signs of their little Guppy, they were met with the sight of a passed out Jace sprawled across the couch, Madzie sleeping soundly next to him. Scattered around the floor and coffee table were Madzie’s coloring supplies along with two very neatly folded pieces of paper. 

Alec silently approached, picking up the papers to examine them. His hand came up to cover his mouth in shock as his eyes glided over the words written in the make-shift cards. 

“Magnus,” he whispered, getting the other mans attention. “What, by the angels, is Mother’s Day?”

“It’s a mundane holiday created to celebrate mothers, why?” Magnus answered easily.

“It would appear our little Guppy has created some cards for my sister and Clary,” Alec explained, handing them over for Magnus to read.

“For Biscuit too?” Magnus asked, surprised.

“Just read them,” Alec urged.

Magnus felt tears come to his eyes as he read through the cards Madzie had created for the two mother-figures in her life. Although he felt as though there was nothing missing in Madzie’s life, he was forever grateful for the positive influence both Izzy and Clary had in her life and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“Dear Aunt Izzy,

Thank you for being my Aunt. You  
are the prettiest girl in the whole world.  
Thank you for putting on Papa’s make-  
up on me and making me pretty too.  
Even though I don’t have a mommy,  
I have something other people don’t  
have because I have an awesome  
Aunt Izzy. I love you!

Love,   
Madzie”

Alec nodded, tears gathering his his eyes as Magnus read the card with reverence. He was choked up by the love and appreciate their little girl was displaying for others. 

“Read Clary’s next,” Alec urged, coming over to Magnus’ side and resting his head on his shoulder as he read the next card.

“Dear Aunt Clary,

Thank you for helping take care of  
me when my daddy and papa are  
working. You always make me smile  
and laugh. And you are such a good  
artist. I hope I can be as good of an   
artist as you are some day. I love  
you!

Love,  
Madzie

PS: Thanks for being a really good   
cook and always coming over to  
make food when Aunt Izzy is  
watching me!”

Magnus finished reading with a small laugh. “She hit that one on the head, huh?”

“Unfortunately so,” Alec agreed. “She is perceptive, we can’t deny that.”

“How did we get so lucky Alexander, to have such a loving and caring child in our lives?” Magnus asked, closing the cards and placing them back where they found them.

“I don’t know, but I thank the angels for her every day, just like I thank the angels for you as well,” Alec said, turning his head to place a chaste kiss on Magnus’ lips.

“I’m thankful for both of you as well,” Magnus said between kissed, “I love you both so much.”

“We love you too,” Alec replied.

“Now let’s get these two off to bed, and I’ll be sure to call up Biscuit and your sister in the morning and invite them over for breakfast Sunday morning so Madzie can give them their cards.” Magnus said.

“Why Sunday?” Alec asked.

“Because that’s when Mother’s Day is,” Magnus explained with a laugh.

“Oh,” Alec mumbled, thoughtfully. He watched as Magnus lovingly lifted Madzie from her place on the couch and carefully cradled her against his chest as he walked off to her room, leaving Alec to get Jace into a guest room. He couldn’t help but smile in that moment, because in that moment he felt truly lucky to have the family that he did.


End file.
